Friday, January 18, 2008

Open Thread Oh, look! The Afghanistan Opium market is getting some competition. Opium fields spread across Iraq as farmers try to make ends meet LEAP member Judge Eleanor Levingston Shockett died last week. She was an outspoken advocate for reform who had been interested in drug policy since 1958. The Drug Testing Medicine Show and Flea Circus is on the road again. The ONDCP held the latest of their little one-sided information propaganda sessions for schools in Washington State this week. But they can't get away with it. DPA's Jennifer Kern had an excellent OpEd published in the Seattle Post Intelligencer. The ACLU urged educators to reject the idea. And at the summits, volunteers passed out copies of the ACLU and Drug Policy Alliance's booklet: Making Sense of Student Drug Testing. Upcoming summits: Jacksonville, FL, January 29, 2008 Oklahoma City, OK, January 31, 2008 Albuquerque, NM, February 6, 2008 Indianapolis, IN, February 13, 2008 Strong editorial in the National Post: Emery Should Be A Free Man Drug policy in Canada, particularly as it pertains to marijuana, is stuck in a sort of legal no-man's-land. Politicians want to appear tough on crime, but at the same time are loath to make criminals out of the hundreds of thousands of Canadians -- perhaps as many one or two million -- who are casual tokers. They tiptoe up to the precipice of decriminalization, always to scurry back at the last minute for fear of offending the United States, or the many domestic voters who oppose more liberal marijuana laws. At best, our leaders can only ever summon the courage for a de facto decriminalization: Keep personal pot possession nominally illegal, but instruct Crown prosecutors not to prosecute most offenders. The irony is: This gutless approach undermines the rule of law more assuredly than decriminalization or full legalization ever could. [...] Permitting Marc Emery to cut a deal with U.S. prosecutors is one of those cowardly half-measure that have come to symbolize Canadian drug policy. If Ottawa wants Canadians to respect the law, it either has to enforce it as written or -- as we would prefer -- change what is written to conform to the prevailing social norms. Our current neither-fish-nor-fowl stand makes a mockery of our criminal justice system. From the DEA press release about their new reality TV show on Spike TV this spring, produced by Al Roker Entertainment: "This job is a calling. We love what we do and you can see that on the show through the dedication and excitement of these agents," said Special Agent Mary Irene Cooper, DEA's Chief of Congressional and Public Affairs. "Nothing else I've seen captures the day-to-day experiences of drug law enforcement work like this series. You see the thrills, you see the anticipation, you see the chase, you see the reality. I'm guessing none of these people will be featured on the show... 8:37:57 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []